Bolshevik

pronunciation

How to pronounce Bolshevik in British English: UK [ˈbɒlʃɪvɪk] word uk audio image

How to pronounce Bolshevik in American English: US [ˈboʊlʃɪvɪk] word us audio image

Noun:

emotionally charged terms used to refer to extreme radicals or revolutionaries
a Russian member of the left-wing majority group that followed Lenin and eventually became the Russian communist party
Adjective:

of or relating to Bolshevism

Word Origin

bolshevik: bolshevik: [20] Russian bol’ shévik is a derivative of ból’ shiy, the comparative form of the adjective ból’ shoy ‘big’. It was originally applied, at the 1903 congress of the Russian Social Democratic Party, to those party members who wished to go for a ‘big’, or extreme, socialist programme (in contrast with the more moderate Mensheviks – from Russian mén’ shij ‘less’); but since the Bolsheviks outnumbered the Mensheviks, the word soon became interpreted as ‘those in the majority in the party’. The transferred use of the English abbreviation bolshy to mean ‘stubbornly uncooperative’ dates from around 1918.=> debility

Bolshevik (n.): 1917, from Russian bol'shiy "greater," comparative of adjective bol'shoy "big, great" (as in Bolshoi Ballet), from Old Church Slavonic boljiji "larger," from PIE root *bel- "strong" (cognates: Sanskrit balam "strength, force," Greek beltion "better," Phrygian balaios "big, fast," Old Irish odbal "strong," Welsh balch "proud;" Middle Dutch, Low German, Frisian pal "strong, firm"). It was the faction of the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party after a split in 1903 that was either larger or more extreme (or both) than the Mensheviks (from Russian men'shij "less"); after they seized power in 1917, applied generally to Russian communists. Bolshevism is recorded from 1917.

1. Some of these detachments considered themselves bolshevik , and were often led by workers .

2. Lenin thought inflation a subversive force , as damaging to capitalism as any bolshevik revolutionary .

3. The march comes on russia 's unity day intended to replace a holiday celebrating the bolshevik revolution .

4. Women must appreciate this and throw their energy into the bolshevik revolution , he insisted .

5. He engineered his own escape and return home through a russia convulsed by the bolshevik revolution .